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Akash Pandey |
Sunday, 1 March 2015 |
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INDIA –THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERS- NCERT HISTORY NOTE-CLASS 12

INDIA –THROUGH THE EYES OF TRAVELLERSPART -1 AL-BIRUNI

Women and men have travelled in search of work,to escape from natural disaster as ,merchants,soldiers,priests,pilgrims

or driven by sense of

adventure.Then in new land they note carefully all the activities which were taken from granted by indigenous writers and people for whom these were routine matters not worthy of being recorded .It is this difference in perspective that makes the accounts of travllers interesting .

He arrived in Ghazni as hostage in 1017 when Sultan Mahmud invaded Khwarizm.In ghazni he spent the rest of his life until his death at the age of 70

In ghazni Al-Biruni developed interest in India .Sanskrit works on astronomy,medicines and mathematics had been translated in a Arabic , from 8th century onwards .

When the Punjab became part of the Ghaznavid empire AL-BIRUNI developed social contacts with local people,priest,scholars and spent years in learning Sanskrit studying religious and philosophical texts and create an environment of mutual trust and understanding.

AL Biruni was familiar with the translations and adaptations of Sanskrit,pali and Prakrit texts into Arabic-these ranged from fabies to works on astronomy and medicine.

AL-BIRUNI was well versed inseveral languages:Syriac,

Arabic,Persian,Hebrew and Sanskrit.

THE KITAB-UL-HIND

ABOUT

KITAB-UL-HIND

Al-Biruni's book "Kitab al-Hind" provides a detailed account of Indian life, religions, languages, and cultures and includes many observations on geography. He stated that the Indus valley must be considered as an ancient sea basin filled with alluvials. In this book, he mentions two books Patanjal and Sakaya. He translated these two Sanskrit books into Arabic. The former book deals with after death accounts, and the latter with the creation of things and their types. Abu-al-Fadal's book "Aein-i-Akbari," written six centuries later during the reign of Akbar, was influenced by Al-Biruni's book.

KITAB-UL-HIND was written by AL-BIRUNI in Arabic language KITAB-UL-HIND is simple and lucid and a voluminous text divided into 80 chapters on subjects such as Philosophy and religion,manners,alchemy,social life,custom,weight and measures,laws, metrology ,iconolography and astronomy.

Style of writing of AL-Biruni –Generally Al Biruni adopted a distinctive structure in each chapter beginning with a question,following this up with a description based on Sanskritic traditions and concluding with comparision with other cultures.

For whom AL-Biruni wrote–As THE KITAB-UL-HIND was in Arabic language Al Biruni probably intended his work peoples living along the frontiers of the subcontinent.

AL-BIRUNI –OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO UNDERSTANDING

Each traveller adopted distinct strategies to understand what they observed .

Firstbarrier -Language According to him Sanskrit was different from Arabic and Persian that ideas and concepts could not be easily translated from one language into another.

Secondbarrier -The differences in religious beliefs and practices.

Third Barrier-The self- absorption ( preoccupation with oneself ) consequent insularity of the local people.

Al-BIRUNI’S DESCRIPTION OF THE CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA

AL-BIRUNI tried to explain the caste system by looking for parallels in other societies.

He attempted to suggest that social divisions were not unique to India.

The conception of social pollution ,intrinsic to the caste system was according to him contrary to the laws of nature.

AL-BIRUNI’S description of the caste system was deeply influenced by his study of normative Sanskrit texts which laid down the rules governing the system from the point of view of the Brahmanas.

This is Al-Biruni's account of the system of varnasThe highest caste are the Brahmana, of whom the books of the Hindus tell us that they were created from the head of Brahman. And as the Brahman is only another name for the force called nature, and the head is the highest part of the ... body, the Brahmana are the choice part of the whole genus. Therefore the Hindus consider them as the very best of mankind. The next caste are the Kshatriya, who were created, as they say, from the shoulders and hands of Brahman. Their degree is not much below that of the Brahmana. After them follow the Vaishya, who were created from the thigh of Brahman. The Shudra, who were created from his feet . . . Between the latter two classes there is no very great distance. Much, however, as these classes differ from each other, they live together in the same towns and villages, mixed together in the same houses and lodgings.

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